living nomadically

Crunching Miles

Admittedly, we didn’t do much touristing over the last two days. We mostly just traveled. We went from ‘almost’ Cache Creek to ‘almost’ Prince George on Wednesday, then ‘almost’ Prince George to Kitwanga on Thursday. There is 600 or so miles in there but, with all the math I have been doing to figure out speeds and litres, distance is getting the best of me.

On Wednesday after saying goodbye to our view, we stopped in Kal Tires in Cache Creek to have one of our tires looked at – it had picked up a nail. They checked it out and, since it didn’t cause a leak, told us to ignore it but watch it. Charge: $0. Thanks Kal Tire! We also learned that in Canada (I have no idea of US rules) any tire on a vehicle over 5500KG must have the tire removed and be patched from the inside rather than plugged. Which turns a 15 minute fix into a hour or more job involving jacks and tire removal and who knows what else. So we were pretty happy we didn’t have to worry about it.

We stopped in Quesnel for gas. And our debit card was shut off. And our credit card was shut off. We had put a notice on both accounts online and over the phone not two days before we crossed the border. But we still got those fraud alert calls. Mike ended up spending over an hour on the phone in an almost endless loop before we got it resolved. So far, the card have continued to work.

By the time we got near Prince George, we were both tired, cranky, and hungry. We saw Bee Lazee RV Park and so we stopped. For $30CAD we got 30A full hookups, cable (honestly, only six fuzzy channels), and really fast WIFI. There was a little road noise but the park was pleasant and we enjoyed our brief stay. Our Dish worked and the Orioles won.

Thursday we woke up and had a goal of making it to Smithers. We made it there pretty easily and the drive was so easy we just kept going. But I should mention that the scenery beginning in Smithers and continuing west is just awesome. It reminds me of the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho. So we just kept driving, wanting to see what was around the next bend. And it just kept getting better until we finally had to call it a day. We were on 16 and having a lot of trouble finding a pullout large enough for us. They may be able to hold a 25′ C or a B but only if you can stop quick enough to pull off.

At the Junction of 16 and 37 is a gas station. At the gas station, there is a sign (cue angels singing). RV Park! 3km that way! And so we went that way. We found Cassiar RV Park, a block or two off of 37. For $29CAD we got 30A full hookups, and really, really good WIFI. And while the park is small and in a neighborhood, it has wonderful views of snow capped mountains. While there was no TV, no Dish, and no cable, we had a very enjoyable but brief stay.

An Update: If you are patient, about three miles past the junction of 16 and 37 heading west, there is a very large turnout to the left, large enough and level enough to hold a bunch of very large rigs. About 1/2 a mile past that, on the right, there is a large rest area back in the trees that will also hold quite a few large rigs. We passed at least half a dozen additional pull offs, some with great views, that could hold large rigs on the way to Terrace.